Page 119 of The Stalker

17

The Sweep

Tatiana was standingnear the entrance to Hayden’s room in their hotel suite. He was in the shower, and it was about five minutes before it would hit two o’clock. She heard the water turn off and cringed. She had been hoping that he would be out of the shower well before she needed to check on him.

It had been a week since their tense conversation in the tour bus, and she was so on edge that she felt certain she was going to crack into a thousand pieces any minute now. Hayden had been flirty and friendly as usual from the next morning, but he was right when he’d told her that things that had been said couldn’t be unsaid.

Thank fuck you didn’t say the one thing you shouldn’t.

She was grateful she’d managed to keep to herself the real reason why she couldn’t be with him. The real reason she was fighting so hard against it, and why she cared so much about him and his safety, was something she could barely even admit to herself.

She looked at the watch on her wrist as it beeped, and she cringed. It was time for her to do a sweep of the hotel suite. A part of her wanted to skip this sweep in case Hayden was still indecent in the bathroom after his shower, but her training wouldn’t allow it.

Still, there was no reason that she couldn’t start with the rest of the rooms. Tatiana made her way from the far end of the suite toward Hayden’s room. She checked each room, including her own, on the way, and she checked each of them probably more thoroughly than she needed to before she knocked on his door.

“Hayden? I’m coming in to check the room, okay?” she called out as she opened the door.

“Sure,” he replied from the direction of the bathroom

Tatiana began by checking the closet, then looking behind the curtains.

Just put your big girl panties on and do your fucking job.

By the time she was on her knees looking under the bed that no human could fit under, she knew she was being stupid. She made her way to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

“I’m coming in,” she warned him.

As she opened the door, the warm steam from the room hit her. Hayden had nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was wet and he was standing at the sink, almost having finished shaving his face. Arousal flooded through Tatiana as she looked at him.

Professional, Tatiana. Be professional. You’re just here to check on him, which you’ve done, so you can leave now.

The lust she felt toward him was undeniable, and as he stood there half-naked in front of her, she kept reminding herself that he was the client and was completely off-limits. Hayden swiped the last of the shaving cream from his face with the razor, rinsed it in the water, and set it down before smiling at her in the mirror.

“Hey, Tati,” he said before splashing his face with water.

The tension that was there so frequently between them was crackling in the air. Hayden stood upright and leaned casually against the sink as he looked at her. She watched his gaze traverse her body as she stood still in the doorway and found her breathing was shallow.

“Hi there, Hayden. Just doing my sweep of the room.”

Perfect. You’ve done it, and he knows you’ve done it. You can leave now.

Tatiana was pleased that she’d managed to completely ignore the attraction she was feeling toward him and keep their interaction professional.

Her success was short-lived, though, as Hayden continued to look at her in a way that was quickly making her forget all of her principles.

“I barely ever see you with your hair down,” he told her in a husky voice.

Tatiana was surprised by the comment coming out of nowhere and raised her eyebrows at him before she shrugged. “I always braid it when I’m working so that it’s out of the way and can’t be used against me in a potential fight.”

“Do you think that you need it up around me?” he asked with a smile on his face.

Tatiana had images of him running his hands through her hair as he kissed her, and was sure that it was riskier to have it down around him than with any possible opponent. She longed for him to touch her, and she knew that this conversation was rapidly getting them into dangerous territory.

“Maybe,” she said as the effect he was having on her took hold, and she started to get wet.

He began to move slowly toward her, and her heart raced faster with every step that he took.

This can’t happen. Leave.

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